AUT Business School Excellence in Business Support Awards

Finalists named for 2014 AUT Business School
Excellence in Business Support
Awards

Finalists for the 2014 AUT
Business School Excellence in Business Support Awards have
been announced today.

“For any business, the standard of
support it gets behind the scenes from business support
organisations has a great bearing on whether it succeeds or
fails,” says AUT University Dean of Business and Law,
Professor Geoff Perry. “By acknowledging excellence in
business support we aim to highlight the important role of
business support, celebrate excellence, and raise the
standard of business support across the board.”

The
importance of strong leadership in business support cannot
be underestimated and is demonstrated in the quality of the
two individual finalists in the Leadership category this
year, Stephen Jacobi and Franceska Banga.

Stephen Jacobi
provides consultancy services in international trade,
government relations and economic development, drawing on a
deep knowledge of New Zealand’s trade negotiating effort
and an extensive network of contacts within and outside New
Zealand. Jacobi’s recent successes have included helping
to restore New Zealand’s trade relationship with the
United States and preparing and supporting New Zealand FTA
negotiations with Japan (through the Trans Pacific
Partnership) and Korea.

Chief Executive of the New Zealand
Venture Investment Fund Franceska Banga is well known for
her leadership of the policy and framework for New
Zealand’s venture capital sector since 2000. She is also
highly regarded in the international venture capital
community. Under Banga’s guidance the New Zealand Venture
Investment Fund has invested around $145 million into 167
New Zealand companies since 2002, and to date those
companies have earned $1.5 billion in revenues and $1.2
billion in export dollars.

Finalists for each of the 11
categories have until 11 July to submit their final
applications, which will then be evaluated by a team of
academics from the AUT Business School’s Management
Department. Evaluation of applications is overseen by the
New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation.

In evaluating
applications the judges will focus on: leadership and
planning, customer and market focus, provision of business
support, evaluation and improvement, and results.

Now into
their ninth year, the AUT Business School Excellence in
Business Support Awards are the only national performance
for New Zealand business support organisations.

Winners
of the 11 category awards and the Supreme Award will be
named at a gala dinner on 2 October.

2014
finalists for the AUT Business School Excellence in Business
Support Awards

ALSO:

"Unfortunately we are in crisis and this friendly dinosaur faces extinction… Our only hope is to try and raise funds to buy the building and restore it to its glory, either fully funded or with a viable deposit." More>>

Previously undiscovered letters and a story written by a young Katherine Mansfield were recently unearthed in Wellington City Library’s archives by a local author researching a book about the famous writer. More>>